[WEB4LIB] Re: Powering down PCs

[Robert J. Tiess]

HTheyer wrote:
> At all of our libraries we no longer power down and shut off the computers
> at night because our IT department can do remote upgrades and testing when
> we don't need the terminals.  We exit from all running programs and "logoff"
> from the system, but leave the PCs running.  Having them work remotely early
> in the morning before anyone is at the branch sure beats them coming in
> while the public is there and doing maintenance when the terminals are in
> high demand.

I doubt they are running tests and upgrades all the time
during the off hours.  While people may argue the toll this
takes on computers, let's think a little more broadly here,
past the walls of one's institution, to the environment.
Energy consumption ranks among our top environmental
concerns in areas where energy does not come from renewable
sources (e.g. solar, hydropower), and then everywhere (i.e.
globally) where the environment is collectively affected
by such senseless power use.  Unlike opinions of what sort
of toll power use takes on computers, this is not a theory;
it's a fact of energy consumption.  Energy use pollutes.
Energy pollution in the name of convenience to IT staff?
No, personally, I could never justify that, and on the
professional level (as I am a "tech" person), I know this
does not need to be the case.  The technology is out there
to conduct remote power control for IT/tech staff access
in the off hours.  Perhaps minor adjustments in policy
are in order as well.

Awareness is the key.  Most people do not know how big the
energy problem is beyond the gas pump or home heating oil,
so here are some links to facts on the issue:

 * From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [if
   anything, just read the first sentence in the article]
   http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/actions/cleanenergy/index.html
 * From the U.S. Department of Energy
   http://www.eren.doe.gov/erec/factsheets/savenrgy.html
 * Energy pollution facts from the Alliance to Save Energy
   http://www.ase.org/earthday/contest/question2.htm
 * Earth Day 2000: http://www.earthday.net
 * A report released *yesterday* on global warming:
   http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000830/wl/global_warming_1.html
 * How Green is My Library?
   http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/stoss/nyla99.html

I found this power down policy from a UCSD library site
while searching the web.  Note the reference to the power
crisis:

 * http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/systems/policy/off.htm

Another library site references computer powering down
in an emergency management manual:

 * http://www.millersv.edu/~library/Policies/EmergencyManual.html

The equipment may be "green," but even at minimal energy
consumption levels that equipment, over a year, adds up:

 * Pollution Calculator: http://www.elpc.org/polCalc/

Multiply that by all the institutions and businesses out
there doing this, and the environmental impact should be
all too apparent.  So I would urge my colleagues on this
list to consider the environment, unless they don't mind
the possibility of libraries one day being listed among
the top domestic polluters.  This is Y2K, and more than
ever we should demonstrate environmental consciousness.
Our environment is in bad shape as it is.  If this is
considered unimportant, if it is believed no difference
is to be made on a grand scale by broadly conducting more
ecologically friendly activities, and if libraries, the
primary centers of knowledge for communities around the
world, cannot lead by example, then our species has
reached a new low in environmental responsibility.

Robert J. Tiess
rjtiess at warwick.net
http://rtiess.tripod.com